Page 68 of Finding Storm

Or pee myself. But there are some things I’m not willing to share with a hot guy like Nick.

“Okay. Well, I treasure my life, and I’m out of lines anyway. That was my last one.” He sits back, looking mighty pleased with himself.

I’m wiping tears from my eyes. “Where in the hell did you even get those from? They were truly fucking awful.”

He laughs. “One of my best friends, Cash. He’s notorious for his bad one-liners. Those are some of his finer ones.”

One of his best friends. So, he has more than one. And I also know the name of one of them now—Cash. I file that info under One More Thing I Know About Nick Slater.

“Well, I’d say your friend needs new material. But the only question that really matters is, do those chat-up lines actually work for him?”

He looks over at me, that damn brow raised. “All the damn time.”

We both burst out laughing again.

Our laughter only dries up when I pull into the department store’s parking lot. I slide my car into a space and turn off the engine.

“Well, that was fun. Now, we shop.”

We both get out of my car and walk over to the department store. Nick opens the door for me, letting me through first.

Hmm. So, underneath the leather and tattoos lies the heart of a gentleman. And I don’t care what anybody says; deep down, every girl wants a man who will hold open a door for her.

And lay his heart on the line for her.

But we don’t all get lucky enough to get the latter.

I stop just inside the store. “Okay, men’s is up on the second floor. I’ll leave you to go get what you need. Women’s is down here, so I’ll go grab what I need, including Gran’s hairspray. And I’ll meet you back here in … how long will you need?”

“Twenty minutes?”

“Twenty minutes.” I squint up at him. “You sure? That’s not very long.”

He slides his sunglasses on. “Stevie, I’m a guy. Twenty minutes is longer than we need in any store.”

“True.” I nod my agreement. “Okay. See you back here in twenty.”

I walk away from him, this man that I’ve known only hours, with this warm, full feeling in my chest that I can’t even begin to explain.

I only know it feels good.

So damn good.

Almost twenty minutes later, I’m done shopping, so I walk back to the entrance where I said I’d meet Nick. But he’s already standing there, waiting for me. A couple of bags in his hand.

“Damn, you do work fast,” I say, approaching him.

He turns and smiles at me.

That smile hits me in all the good places.

“Told you,” he says. “You got everything you needed?”

“Uh-huh.” I nod up at him. “So, do you want to head back to the B&B? Or we could grab a coffee?”

“Coffee,” he says. “Always coffee.”

“I hear ya. Coffee is life. There’s a Starbucks just around the corner. My best friend, Penny, works there. She’ll caffeine us up. Shall we put the bags in my car?”